Personal stimulus plan for the arts

If everyone who ever has ever thought about writing a book or majored in English would subscribe to one literary journal, those tiny and usually struggling publications would see their circulations skyrocket. If everyone whose child has ever taken dance lessons would attend one dance performance a month (hey, once a quarter), many dance troupes would find they could actually afford to continue. If everyone who ever enjoyed acting in a high school play would attend three or four experimental theater events or independent movie festivals, these projects wouldn’t have to function in borrowed spaces and decrepit venues.

My point is, all of these things are the training and proving grounds for the arts. If we want to enjoy innovative and creative arts, there has to be an audience that supports them. Plenty of us are interested in being seen ourselves. Couldn’t we benefit by seeing what others are doing? Wouldn’t it just be fun to get our car out of the usual ruts and drive somewhere different?

Not only do the arts desperately need support, but artists also crave feedback. Personally, I have really enjoyed meeting writers at bookstore signings. Hearing Robert Coles speak years ago, I’m still thinking over some of the things he said, and it was a great thrill to meet him in person, to find out how soft spoken and shy he appeared. That kind of opportunity has really diminished in the last year or so, and why? Because publishers are reluctant to take on the expense of sending an author on a book tour where she may find herself sitting alone at a table for hours. People just don’t come, unless the writer is a blockbuster. If we do read a good short story in a lit journal, would it kill us to drop a line to the author? Ever considered that it might be helpful to tell a director of that play what staging you thought worked? Sure, bestselling novelists get more mail than they can handle, but the mid-tier artist often gets very little feedback. At its best, art communicates; it would be nice if the conversation were two-way.

Most of us have cut back on eating out, and perhaps traded first run movies for discs from Netflix. If there’s any room for a tiny bit more belt tightening, perhaps those savings could be put into supporting the small arts production of your choice. I’m currently trying to pick up at least one literary journal per month at the local bookstore, with an eye to finding one or two to subscribe to that I really enjoy and will actually read. Artists and people who would like to see a vibrant arts scene might well consider the wisdom of Rabbi Hillel, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, then what am I? If not now, when?”

Seen any good dance performances lately?